Past experience teaches us that, unfortunately, relations between Christians and Muslims have not always been marked by mutual respect and understanding. How many pages of history record battles and wars that have been waged, with both sides invoking the Name of God, as if fighting and killing, the enemy could be pleasing to him. The recollection of these sad events should fill us with shame, for we know only too well what atrocities have been committed in the name of religion.

The lessons of the past must help us to avoid repeating the same mistakes. We must seek paths of reconciliation and learn to live with respect for each other’s identity. The defence of religious freedom, in this sense, is a permanent imperative, and respect for minorities is a clear sign of true civilization.

I have my laptop back and am content again. Since she was in limbo, the whole situation has been resolved. I received an SMS on the Friday afternoon that repairs were completed – so naturally I hotfooted myself out of the conference I was in to pick her up.

The repair job was done very well. I have a new screen that is wonderful to look at, the PCMCIA door was re-aligned (both covered under warranty.) Additionally I think the tech may have even done a little panel-beating to fix the minor case warping from a drop that the laptop took early on (not covered under warranty but not charged for either – thanks!)

Moral of the story – get a very clear indication of the service centre’s load when you book in. Be clear on how long it will take them to even see your machine. Be patient – most people are trying to help you, even if it doesn’t seem helpful from your point of view. Thanks Mac1.

The story so far – my PowerBook G4 1.25Ghz has been a great machine. In the first few months I did have to get the motherboard replaced due to a bad video card – this was done under warranty and all was well.

Another issue is the white blotches or spots issue that has been extensively talked about online. Finally they were really bugging me so I went off to one of the local stores.

AppleCentre Mac1 is where I went last Friday morning. On the counter I showed off the problem, explained that I needed the machine for work and required minimal downtime. The response was that I could drop it off on Monday morning, keeping it for the weekend. Stupidly, I exected that since I had booked the laptop in and received a booking sheet, that parts would be ordered and I would be up and running by now.

Oh not so fast.

Yesterday I was told twice that 1) the laptop hadnt been diagnosed yet (!) and 2) if I wanted faster service I could pay a fee to jump to the head of the queue.